Several airstrikes were launched Thursday hours after White House national-security spokesman John Kirby called on the Houthis to “stop these attacks” in the Red Sea and warned that the group would “bear the consequences for any failure to do so.”
National Review reports the Iran-backed Houthis have launched 27 attacks on vessels in the Red Sea since November 19, the U.S. military said earlier on Thursday. Iran’s proxy group says the attacks are in protest of the Israel–Hamas war.
Prior to the retaliatory strikes, Houthi leader Abdul Malik Al-Houthi threatened a “big” response against the U.S. and its allies if they took military action against the group. “We’ll confront the American aggression,” he said in a televised speech. “Any American attack won’t go unpunished.”
President Biden confirmed the strikes in a statement on Thursday evening, explaining that the action was “in direct response to unprecedented Houthi attacks against international maritime vessels in the Red Sea — including the use of anti-ship ballistic missiles for the first time in history.”
“These attacks have endangered U.S. personnel, civilian mariners, and our partners, jeopardized trade, and threatened freedom of navigation,” he said, noting that more than 50 countries had been impacted by the attacks on commercial shipping, while crews from more than 20 countries have been threatened or taken hostage in acts of piracy.
“More than 2,000 ships have been forced to divert thousands of miles to avoid the Red Sea — which can cause weeks of delays in product shipping times. And on January 9, Houthis launched their largest attack to date — directly targeting American ships,” Biden said.
“These targeted strikes are a clear message that the United States and our partners will not tolerate attacks on our personnel or allow hostile actors to imperil freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most critical commercial routes. I will not hesitate to direct further measures to protect our people and the free flow of international commerce as necessary,” he concluded.
